Mooching for books, a treasure and a pleasure

Today I took another trip to indulge the book addiction and retrieved 11 packages from the Central Post Office in Quezon City, from the USA, Lithuania, New Zealand and Singapore.

Thanks to my weekly visits to retrieve packages, the kind lady who releases packages just let me take them home without the required opening to check on the contents. Well, my face is already a regular fixture for them so no hassle.

On the way to work, I proceeded to open each one, slowly so as not ruin any portion of the precious contents. The first one was from Lithuania, two slim tomes wrapped in plastic, both old books written by H.G. Wells. Mooched these from Dovile, a fellow booklover.

Then I opened the one from Singapore, a book about Atlantis, from George. The next one was an old paperback on Stonehenge from Michele in Texas. There was even a beautifully packed coffeetable book on Ancient American Treasures from Glenda in California.

All in all, a total of 16 books received through the Bookmooch network. I read about it from an article in the Manila Bulletin in March, more than four months ago. The concept was interesting: for those with books sitting on the shelves, here was a chance to find a new home for them. The concept appealed to me because although parting with any book is excruciating, the idea of giving the book to someone who wanted it and would take care of it allowed me to consider giving my books away. Especially since there was the prospect of receiving books in return.

So I signed up, ready to send out my books. First had to choose what to give away, believe me, that was not easy. Then listed it in the inventory, receiving 1/10th of a point. With each book I was adding, I was building up points. Enough to use to request for the books I had seen in the inventories of other Bookmooch members.

The point system gives you more points for sending internationally, and also takes away more points for mooching books from abroad. The main expense to a moocher is the cost of sending the book to the requesting party, and with postage also comes packaging. Then again, depending on how much of an obsessive-compulsive bookworm you are, the packaging pretty much varies.

The first book I received was Me & Mr Darcy, from Aspa in Greece, in less than a month since I signed up and mooched a book. The first book I sent out was to Nina in the United Kingdom, a book about getting hitched. She got this 18 days after she requested the book from me, quite fast as I sent it Priority Mail, not knowing there were less costly options for sending out the books.

Four months after, I have received 71 books, and am awaiting 72 more. On the giving side, I have sent out 83 books which have found their way to their new owners, with 48 books still in transit. My pending outbox for books tonight has 23 waiting to be mailed.

Every time I see a notice from the Post Office, my heart flutters from the excitement of adding another book to the bulging shelves. Every time I wrap the requested books in plastic and print out the mailing labels, I realize how small the world has become, what with strangers albeit fellow booklovers sharing their most precious of treasures.

I have been asked by my best friend if it is worth the drain on the budget, the price of mailing out a book starts at P48 and goes up depending on the weight and the destination. And I reply, of course, where else would I be able to find old books, rare titles and not pay too dearly to own them. And how else would I be able to add on to my pop-up books collection without going back to New York and its many many bookstores. [Lucky for me, the best friend likes books too, and indulges me while gently reminding me about bigger responsibilities and the long-term situation.]

Mooching through Bookmooch is a wonderful way to grow my library and meet new people who happen to share the same love for books. Even better, mooching through Bookmooch has meant finding treasures galore, not only in the books but also in the booklovers who make mooching such a pleasure.

Give it a try... but be ready to moderate the greed, and the addiction.



Swap books at BookMooch.com